This invention is related to the field of carbon nanotubes, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to composites and products comprising single-walled carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes (also referred to as carbon fibrils) are seamless tubes of graphite sheets with full fullerene caps which were first discovered as multi-layer concentric tubes or multi-walled carbon nanotubes and subsequently as single-walled carbon nanotubes in the presence of transition metal catalysts. Carbon nanotubes have shown promising applications including nanoscale electronic devices, high strength materials, electron field emission, tips for scanning probe microscopy, and gas storage.
Generally, single-walled carbon nanotubes are preferred over multi-walled carbon nanotubes for use in these applications because they have fewer defects and are therefore stronger and more conductive than multi-walled carbon nanotubes of similar diameter. Defects are less likely to occur in single-walled carbon nanotubes than in multi-walled carbon nanotubes because multi-walled carbon nanotubes can survive occasional defects by forming bridges between unsaturated carbon valances, while single-walled carbon nanotubes have no neighboring walls to compensate for defects.
Single-walled carbon nanotubes exhibit exceptional chemical and physical properties that have opened a vast number of potential applications.
However, the availability of these new single-walled carbon nanotubes in quantities and forms necessary for practical technology is still problematic. Large scale processes for the production of high quality single-walled carbon nanotubes are still needed, and suitable forms of the single-walled carbon nanotubes for application to various technologies are still needed. It is to satisfying these needs that the present invention is directed.